Expect 'Underrated' Oregon Tight End Terrance Ferguson To Get The Ball More In 2024

Oregon Ducks football offensive coordinator Will Stein plans on getting the ball to Terrance Ferguson more this fall.

Oregon tight end Terrance Ferguson catches a pass from former Oregon quarterback Bo Nix during / Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA

Oregon football coach Dan Lanning has added significant fire power to the Ducks’ offense as they prepare for their inaugural season in the Big Ten Conference. While Dillon Gabriel, Tez Johnson and Evan Stewart may grab headlines from the Oregon spring football game… There is a key member of the offense who might be overlooked and even underrated: Senior tight end Terrance Ferguson. 

Ferguson has caught the attention of coach Lanning during spring practices. “Terrence Ferguson has busted his absolute tail (and) put himself in great position to be a great player for this program,” Lanning said.

Offensive coordinator Will Stein also raved about Ferguson, with the goal to get Ferguson the ball more this fall.  Look for Ferguson to increase on his 42 receptions, 414 yards and six touchdowns from last season. 

Oregon tight end Terrance Ferguson catches a pass from former Oregon quarterback Bo Nix during / Ben Lonergan/The Register-Guard / USA

In Oregon's spring football game, Ferguson led all tight ends with 38 yards on three receptions.

The 6-foot-5, 255-pound senior leads a mostly young, but talented tight end room. The Ducks will also look to senior Patrick Herbert for his leadership and sophomore Kenyon Sadiq who represents the fast-developing undergraduates. The abilities of these athletes in both the passing and running game make them instrumental to the Ducks’ success in 2024.

Experience

Ferguson enters 2024 with 91 career receptions, just 33 away from the program record of 124 (Ed Dickson). His 13 touchdowns are just two behind Josh Wilcox record of 15. Ferguson’s 42 receptions last year tied for second-most by a UO tight end in single-season history, just one back of the single-season record of 43, held by Dickson. Fueguson capped the year as he was named to the Coaches Pac-12 All-Conference first team.

Strengths

Ferguson is a talented pass-catcher who can create coverage problems for the defense, especially up the seam. He also can flex out wide in some sets, particularly near the goal line.

Quotable

While Ferguson could have declared for the NFL draft after a stellar junior season, he opted to return for another year. He told reporters, “(I) talked to my family, kind of back and forth, and there was some stuff I wanted to accomplish in college still. That was the biggest thing, there’s still stuff left on the table here before I need to move up to the next level.”

Big Ten opponents would be wise to pay attention to this playmaker. Otherwise, they run the risk of ignoring a key element in the Ducks’ offense and they do so at their own peril.